12/21/24
December 04, 2004
"I don't know if I'm a good fit for this team and I don't know if I'm a good fit for this league.": This boggles the mind. More inside...
posted by lilnemo to basketball at 03:20 PM - 11 comments
I really just hope this blows over. Particularly with all the other shit that has happened in pro sports recently, and with the NBA and the Raptors more specifically, Rafer Alston was one of the true feel-good stories in recent memory. You would hate to see it tarnished like this.
posted by smithers at 05:43 PM on December 04, 2004
I'm probably going to get shouted down for saying this: at some point, Sam Mitchell needs to quit alienating his players and saying negative things in the media. He's already got the rest of his team playing mediocre ball, now he's going to talk down to and possibly long-term bench his best-performing player? He's been absolutely ripping his players in postgame interviews. I've seen coaches use the media to bait players into better performance... Phil Jackson did it for years with Shaq, and Larry Brown perfected it with Iverson. Mitchell just seems to enjoy tearing down his players to show them who's the boss. He may accomplish that, but what does it all mean if it doesn't show in the results? So Alston showed too much emotion on the court - would he rather he didn't care, like his teammate VC?
posted by dusted at 07:33 PM on December 04, 2004
For what it's worth, Alston's finishing up a 20-point night (admittedly half from the free throw line) with 10 assists. In addition, that in-game music in Cleveland is really damned annoying.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 09:03 PM on December 04, 2004
Dusted ... you're judging Mitchell on what? Less than one-fourth of a season, and the vast majority of that spent on the road? So far, I've seen a Raptors team that actually plays some defense now, hustles after loose balls and contests shots and has a bench pushing Vince Carter and Jalen Rose to do more than just put up lazy 15-footers. Seems like he's doing a pretty solid job to me. As for lighting up his players in the press, everything he's said in the papers he has also told his players to their faces beforehand. Carter, Rose and Alston have all mentioned this when asked about Mitchell's harshness. He's not ripping them -- he's just being transparent. What's wrong with that?
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:47 PM on December 05, 2004
So far, I've seen a team that's 7 and 12. This team is not going anywhere soon. They're being toyed with on occassion. My god, LeBron played with them like a cat with a ball of string.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:56 PM on December 05, 2004
Coaching in the NBA, it has been said, is a fine art. Red Auerbach, who won nine championships on the Boston Celtics bench, sculpted teams into the kind of grand bronze masterpieces you place outside of arenas. Phil Jackson, who raised nine banners with various help from fellows named Jordan and O'Neal and Bryant, manipulated egos like a poet arranges words. So what of Sam Mitchell, who has won seven games in 19 tries as coach of the Toronto Raptors? The critics say he's painting with a hammer. -Toronto Star Look, Mitchell is in an impossible situation with Carter, but how does ripping his best player, the guy already playing as hard as he can, accomplish anything? Yell at Carter - he's the one (allegedly) partying all night and dogging it in games.
posted by dusted at 10:40 PM on December 05, 2004
Lebron played with them like a cat with a ball of string... on the fourth game of a road trip and the night after playing in Boston (3rd game in 4 nights). Give them a little slack. Lebron would have been the best player on the court against a not so fresh team.
posted by gspm at 06:49 AM on December 06, 2004
Oh I give them a lot of slack, trust me. I'm a big fan. But the manner in which we're being beaten lately suggests that other teams don't respect our talent or ability. This team has gone 3 and 12 since opening up 4-0. It's a mess.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:59 AM on December 06, 2004
Yell at Carter Wish that worked, look where it landed Butch. Thats the risk you run. Chew out your star and you have singled them out, chew out your team and you're blaming everyone for one persons mistake. I think Sam's got the right idea, address the problem ASAP. And Red Auerbach? Phil Jackson? Naw, they never balled anyone out did they? Red and Phil never alienated any of their players. :p Weedy is right, the league, and the basketball-going public at large do not respect the Raps' talent or ability. That may be why Sam is pressing for effort and consistency from his players, worked last year for the Grizz. Seems to be working this year for the Clips (of all people). Carter sorely needs to be traded. I think once either VC or Jalen Rose are traded, things should settle down. You may not have as good a team on paper, but you might have a more stable locker room to start with, and the Raps certainly didn't have that to start this season.
posted by lilnemo at 12:06 PM on December 06, 2004
posted by yerfatma at 07:11 PM on December 08, 2004
Amidst the Raptors loss to the Celtics, Rafer Alston and Loren Woods were both called for technical fouls towards the end of the 3rd quarter. Coach Sam Mitchell held both players out for the remainder of the game. I just don't get it. Why is Rafer bitching? I understand that Sam's coaching is chafing many members of the Raptors, but christ almighty suck it up! I will admit to watching a few episodes of ESPN's "Streetball" which Rafer has appeared in several times, and I have to ask, having witnessed first hand, not to mention having lived the experience of struggling to make it to the professional level, why in the hell would he throw it all away? Because his coach is demanding? Because his coach expects him to play hard all of the time? Because his coach expects him to respect the game? Sam is a far more travelled journeyman than Rafer is, so it stands to reason that he gets pissed when his players, not to mention his starters play half-assed. Rafer threw a tantrum and Sam called bullshit on him. This is the same guy who mentored and instilled a work ethic in KG. Why the players don't try and tap into that I just don't understand. Any one got a read on this?